Micro blog: Flashbanging Ao Nang

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Have a day to spare in Bangkok? Not really feeling the joy of the busy streets and wishing for a change of scenery? Well, a day trip to Krabi should suffice then. To the dismay of all the climate compensators out there, I decided to spend my last day in town out of town and headed over to Don Muang airport with a same day return ticket to Krabi Airport. I had absolutely no idea what to expect but had taken great care to book with different airlines which I were really eager to inspect. Come to think of it, I was probably more interested in the planes than in Krabi.

Anyway, rise and shine for an early morning flight out of Don Muang on a cute little mutli-coloured ERJ-135 belonging to the solemny sleeping PB Air company. Not only can you sell a book by its cover, it is actually possible to put people on planes simply by giving them an attractive enough livery...

It was a beautiful morning with clear skies and with a complimentary sushi breakfast in hand the views over the Gulf of Thailand were lovely. The hop is not very long so we were down at the sleepy Krabi Airport in a jiffy. With no luggage to bother me I walked up to the taxi counter and explained that I would be flying out of town some three hours later and wondered if they could suggest some nearby place for a little sightseeing. After some deliberation they suggested I go to nearby Ao Nang to check out the view. This was a place I had heard of before, since many of my countrymen had been there. They also recommended I check out a nearby wat (that I have since forgotten the name of) so off we went.

Ao Nang is not far from Krabi and the country road was dotted with houses for most of the time, when not squeezing through limestone passes ordained in massive wigs of plants and trees. Upon reaching Ao Nang we stopped at a near empty beach for some photos, the strong noon sunlight washed away all the colours and generally proceeded to cook my brain so we didn't linger for long. We continued to Ao Nang's main strip and took a half hour break which was enough for me to cover the main street following the small beach. The downtown beach is narrow and sits quite a bit below street level (due to the tide I presume) serving only as a jump on point for a dozen or so longtails ready to ferry passengers to outlying resorts. Actually, Ao Nang sits on one side of a green peninsula which hides from view the resorts on adjacent Railey beach.

The Ao Nang strip featured the usual traveller hang outs; internet cafés (this was before the blooming wifi-era, kids...), restaurants and laundry shops. The streets were near deserted at this time of day with a few locals and tuk tuk drivers lounging around in what shadow they could find. Time was up and the cabbie and I continued inland for a quick look at the wat.

When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see that the temple, while not particularily spectacular on the outside, sat at the base of a huge hill, featuring a shrine at the top. However, time was starting to run tight so I had to choose between trying to climb the summit or check out the temple; easy choice! As I ascended the stairs it soon became obvious that this was going to take more time than anticipated, and when I tried to compensat by upping the tempo I soon realized that I had misjudged my capacity. So, about two thirds up I stopped to catch my breath and take in the view of the nearby hills and plantations for a while, before climbing down on stiff legs and heading back to the taxi. I'd love to go back and check out the place in more detail.

After this the taxi took me back to the airport where I borded a Bangkok Airways ATR-72 bound for the awesome little boutique airport of Samui for a swift transfer to another Bangkok Airways ride, a stumpy Boeing 717 with painted fished on it this time. This plane was packed and not a Thai passenger was in sight. I guess this was reflected in the onboard meal which consisted of depressing sausage and mashed potatoes. Still, a busy little day trip, celebrated with a hot tom yam upon the return to Bangkok.

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Photos

Oh well...
...I think every traveller to Thailand must have at least one of these shots in their folders.

The other side of Ao Nang
I tend to think of Ao Nang as three stretches of the same road, this is the third and last leg.